Matt LaFleur Matt Eberflus
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

First & Long: Playoffs Still Within Reach (Haha!), Eberflus’ Seat Officially Hot, Packers Rivalry Dominance Depressing

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterNovember 13, 2024

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

I’m starting my book “A Tale of Two Matts” with that passage.

Do I have to say something nice about the Bears here, or can I just let it rip? I prefer the latter, though I’ll do the former, so here goes.

The Bears (4-5) face the Packers (6-3) on Sunday, and despite some abysmal football during Chicago’s three-game losing streak, the playoffs are still within reach. I had to grit my teeth like I just took a bullet to the thigh to write that, but it doesn’t make it any less true. The Bears are the No. 9 seed in a format that awards playoff slots to the top seven teams in each conference. They play their NFC North opponents in six of their final eight games, and if they run the table, they’d finish with at least 10 wins.

I don’t believe that’s going to happen, but I’m issuing a challenge to GM Ryan Poles. It was Poles who said nearly three years ago that “the Bears will take the NFC North and never give it back.” The floor is yours, Guv’nor.

Poles is a former offensive lineman who seems completely clueless when it comes to building an offensive line. The Bears have given up 6+ sacks in two straight games, and it’s happened seven times since he and head coach Matt Eberflus assumed control of the team’s personnel, roster, and lineup in 2022.

Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?

Poles has been embarrassingly quiet throughout the turmoil that was this week at Halas Hall. My take is that he wanted to fire Eberflus, was denied that request, and chose to focus on something else instead. Like checking the job postings on the websites of the 31 franchises not owned by the McCaskeys.

That’s where things might get a little ugly. If Poles doesn’t have the right to make a coaching change – and he doesn’t – without permission from George McCaskey and Kevin Warren, is he truly an NFL GM? It sounds to me like Poles is nothing more than a glorified director of player personnel.

Anyway, it’s Rivalry Week. Bear down and go Bears! I gotta run, they’re coming to take me away, haha!

Bears News & Notes

There’s a Flag…On the Play

Oh, the humanity…

Scout Team

  1. When Toyotathon arrives, so does Jordan Love. That’s bad news for Bears fans.
  2. Retired linebacker Clay Matthews said the Packers have been tough to watch this season but he still like Green Bay’s playoff chances. Toyotas for everybody!
  3. Green Bay has one of the league’s top rushing offenses, an area where Chicago’s defense mightily struggles. The Packers might use more play action than usual on Sunday to improve their passing game.
  4. Packers coach Matt LaFleur will have help from consultant Robert Saleh during preparations for the Bears this week.
  5. The Packers are 10-0 straight up and 10-0 against the spread in their last 10 meetings with the Bears. Green Bay is favored by five and a hook as of Wednesday afternoon. Bet accordingly.
  6. Former Packers receiver James Jones says Williams cost Waldron his job. “You’ve been playing quarterback your whole life,” Jones said. “One thing you know how to do at the quarterback position is throw. He’s missing simple throws. And we’re trying to say it’s the coordinators, or the players, and all that. He’s missing simple, wide-open throws. I understand that certain plays could be schemed better, but certain plays are schemed to be open too … Beyond the coaching, Williams is not playing well right now. And that is the bottom line. That’s it. And he got a coach fired.”

Film Room

Pat Summerall isn’t a bad narrator, but nobody was better than John Facenda.

Northern Exposure

  • Detroit (8-1): Lions kicker Jake Bates was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season. Bates kicked two field goals of 50+ yards, including the game-winner to defeat Houston as time expired.
  • Minnesota (7-2): Quarterback J.J. McCarthy had a second surgery on his right knee this week to address swelling that developed after an uptick in rehab activity. the Vikings rookie is expected to be ready for training camp next summer.
  • Green Bay (6-4): Packers safety Xavier McKinney has some choice words for Moore leading up to Sunday’s game against the Bears.

Around the NFL

Darnell Mooney is a potential Pro Bowl selection this season. The former Bear receiver has 684 receiving yards in 10 games, good for sixth-best in the league. It’s nice to see offensive players perform well after escaping the Soldier Field dungeon. Rome Odunze leads Chicago with 414 yards, though he has just one score.

The 49ers and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir have agreed to terms on a contract extension. Lenoir will earn $92 million over five years starting next season.

Former and future President Donald Trump is not a fan of the NFL’s new kickoff rules.

Brace yourself: Oregon’s Dan Lanning is generating a lot of buzz as a potential NFL head coach. One executive compared him to Detroit’s Dan Campbell. Cue Bears fans in 3…2…1.

This article linked below is well worth the time it takes to read:

Two-Minute Drill

The Bears have yet to win a game in 10 tries against LaFleur, and they’ve beaten Green Bay just three times since 2010. That’s three wins in 28 games if you’re keeping score at home, and there is nothing further to discuss. It’s an ass-whooping, plain and simple.

Oh wait, I almost forgot. Green Bay has also won 50 of the last 65 meetings between the two teams going back to 1992. That was the last year that Mike Ditka coached Chicago. Ditka won 15 of the 20 tilts between the two teams from 1982-92, and when he was fired, the Bears led the rivalry 80-57 with six ties. They are currently 95-107-6 all-time against the Packers, including one postseason win and one loss. Like Aaron Rodgers said two seasons ago, it is no longer a rivalry.

Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust

  1. Williams ranks 87th out of 92 qualified rookie starting quarterbacks since 2000 with a minus-52.5 EPA (expected points added). The worst? Bryce Young, who worked with Brown in Carolina last season.
  2. The Bengals currently lead the NFL in Total Passing Yards, Total Passing TDs, Total Receptions, Total Receiving Yards, Total Receiving TDs, and Total Sacks. They are going into their Bye Week with a 4-6 record.
  3. On Thursday night, Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow tossed four touchdown passes and ran for another, but still lost 35-34 to the Ravens. On Sunday evening, Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw five interceptions, but Detroit beat the Texans 26-23.

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

Most people remember December 7, 1941, for reasons other than football, but on that day, the Bears beat the Cardinals 34-21 to finish the regular season at 10-1 and as co-champions in the NFL’s Western Division. The Packers beat the Redskins a week before to finish with the same record, forcing a divisional playoff for the first time in league history.

The Bears trailed the Cardinals 14-0 in the game that started just as the Imperial Japanese Navy was attacking Pearl Harbor and were down 24-20 before rallying for a 34-24 win. The Bears beat Green Bay 33-14  a week later for the right to host the Giants in the NFL’s championship game. Chicago then beat New York 37-9 on December 21 in front of a sparse Wrigley Field crowd of 13,411, the smallest for a title game in league history. In doing so, Chicago became the first team in the NFL championship game era (since 1933) to win consecutive titles; it was the franchise’s fifth league title (1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941).

The Bears have won just three championships since (’46, ’63, and ’85), including their 46-10 victory over New England in Super Bowl XX.

From the Podium

  • “I’ll always be myself. So I am a pretty direct person. That’s what I kind of told him yesterday when we spoke for the first time, and I’ve been around him, I’ve been in the room the entire time, but just in a different capacity. So I think on game day when it comes to how you deliver information, to be solution-oriented, to keep myself calm and also keep him calm as well to kind of decompress every single drive we have to look forward to what’s coming the next drive.” – Brown
  • “I think we’ll do a good job of marrying everything up together and making everything look the same,” Williams said. “And then, from there, get a few easier passes, a few extra layups. I think that’ll help us in the run game. I think it’ll help us in the passing game, being able to do that. I think that’ll provide a little more explosiveness for us as an offense, being able to help out with complementary football and be a little more attacking.” – Williams
Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterNovember 13, 2024
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